BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 152,224 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 76.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 350,139 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,224 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 0.09% of Waste Management worth $70,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 12,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,519,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $674,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,633,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $531,456,000 after buying an additional 177,398 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 179,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,163,000 after purchasing an additional 48,260 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 71,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,473,000 after buying an additional 3,955 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $233.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.88.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $941,181.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.